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China blasts U.S. warning to travelers

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Posted: Saturday, April 21, 2001

By Compiled from wire reports

BEIJING -- China furiously protested a U.S. State Department warning to American travelers of Chinese origin, saying Friday it was ''irresponsible'' and an attempt to sabotage Chinese-Americans' relations with Beijing.

Beijing's response came the same day as word of the detention of an American writer -- the fifth Chinese-born intellectual with foreign ties to be held in a sweeping anti-espionage campaign. Observers say the detentions show a disturbing new pattern of seizing not only political dissidents, but anyone with access to sensitive information about the government.

The U.S. State Department's travel warning, released Thursday, cautions Chinese-born Americans that they risk being detained in China if they have been involved in dissident activities or published writings critical of the Chinese government. It also warned of risks to those who have traveled to Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province, or had contact with Taiwan media organizations.

Insisting the detainees were a tiny minority who had broken Chinese law, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue demanded Washington ''correct the mistake and take measures to eliminate the negative effects created by the so-called warning,'' the government's Xinhua News Agency said.

Napster turns to new detection technology

WASHINGTON -- In an effort to combat piracy, the online music service Napster will use new technology that identifies songs by mapping their sound patterns.

Napster on Friday announced the deal with the Virginia company that developed the technology. The music service is trying to counter criticism that it has not done enough to stem the illegal trading of copyrighted songs on the Internet.

The Recording Industry Association of America, Napster's main foe in a legal battle that threatens to end the swapping service, gave cautious praise to the new detection effort.

Napster's first effort to block songs focused on their titles -- but savvy computers users have foiled many blockages by inserting typos or switching letters in the song titles.

The deal with Relatable moves the blocking effort in a new direction. The company's TRM software identifies songs by their sound properties -- an identification process that the company says will work regardless of the file format or quality.

Submarine's skipper avoids court-martial

WASHINGTON -- The admiral who heads the U.S. Pacific Fleet has decided not to court-martial the skipper of the USS Greeneville and may inform him as early as Friday, defense officials said.

The decision by Adm. Thomas Fargo is in line with the unanimous recommendation of a three-admiral court of inquiry which investigated the Greeneville's Feb. 9 collision with a Japanese fishery school's training vessel. The collision off Honolulu sank the Japanese ship and left nine Japanese missing at sea.

Fargo intends to tell Cmdr. Scott Waddle that he will receive nonjudicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That means Waddle's Navy career will be ended, although he will not face the prospect of jail time.

Fargo may issue a formal reprimand to Waddle and grant him an honorable discharge with a pension, the officials said. Waddle could also be fined.

Women-owned firms getting few contracts

WASHINGTON -- Companies owned by women are receiving just 2.5 percent of the government's nearly $200 billion a year in contracts, and Congress says that's not nearly enough. In fact, lawmakers declared five years ago the percentage must be doubled.

It hasn't happened.

By all accounts, the government-wide numbers won't change much until there is a sizable increase at the Defense Department, which controls the lion's share of federal contracting.

And at the Pentagon, a decade of military downsizing has slashed the pool of specialists who match businesses with contracts.

That matters because small companies can get lost in the labyrinthine world of federal contracts. By helping a company navigate what's available and what's required to get it, these specialists can cut years off the process.

This article published in the Athens Daily News on Saturday, April 21, 2001.